Abstract
TiO2 films are important as capacitors and gates in microelectronic devices and also as polarizers in optical communication devices because of its high dielectric constant, large birefringence and chemical stability. As these properties are anisotropic, it is important to be able to grow an oriented film. In this study, c-axis oriented rutile phase TiO2 films were deposited at 60oC on silica glass substrates from acidic TiCl4 aqueous solutions. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy showed that oriented film growth was the result of a combination of the preferential growth of primary crystallites and a geometrical constraint imposed on agglomerating crystallites. It was also observed that the film cracked during drying. As such, it is believed that cracking was the result of high capillary stresses generated during drying and also meant that the film contained nano-sized pores.
